Page 1746 - Week 07 - Tuesday, 18 August 1992
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
March this year. In the Canberra Times of 29 March, Mr Connolly is reported to have poured cold water on the concept of doing anything about Picture and People magazines as they appeared in newsagents, service stations, food outlets and other points of sale in the ACT. He said - - -
Mr Connolly: I said that you could not legislate.
MR HUMPHRIES: No, you went further than that. Mr Connolly said that we could not legislate. He did say that, but he also went further. He said:
I and most of my colleagues in the Labor Party tend to take the view that censorship is a bad thing ... it is like covering Victorian piano legs -
this is interesting -
these magazines contain nothing you do not see on Bondi Beach.
Mr Connolly: Well, often that is true. That is true.
MR HUMPHRIES: Often it is true, Minister. The magazine that Ms Szuty quoted did not have anything I have ever seen on Bondi Beach. I have not been there for a while, but I am sure it does not appear on Bondi Beach. I do not think it appears on any beach anywhere in the country, unless it is a private beach.
Mr Connolly: No; you would not see that much clothing on Bondi Beach. The young woman was wearing a dress.
MR HUMPHRIES: That is not the point, and you know that it is not the point. The point is that those magazines are degrading of women; they depict women in degrading poses and positions; they are designed to titillate the sexual desires of their male readers; they are - for the reason that Ms Szuty has outlined - degrading of women; and we ought to do something about it. We should not be denigrating those who take steps to do something about it, comparing them to the people in the Victorian era who covered piano legs; nor should we be saying that you see the same sort of thing on Bondi Beach. I quote further from the Canberra Times article, which paraphrases what the Minister is supposed to have said:
The issue was not something he would get excited about and there were better issues for the Assembly to consider such as homeless youth, and improving services for alcohol- and drug-affected people ...
Mrs Carnell: Circus animals.
MR HUMPHRIES: We could even say that the issue of circus animals is a very good alternative issue. The fact is, Madam Speaker, that the Minister was doing more there than just saying, "It is legally difficult to legislate in this area"; he was saying, "The issue is not important". At that time, he was saying that the issue was not important. We know, I think, that the issue is important.
What has changed between the end of March and the middle of August is that other States and Territories around this country have begun to act on this question and have, to some extent, forced the hand of this Minister. In Western Australia, legislation was introduced - and, I think, passed - in the Western Australian Parliament to restrict heavily the capacity of newsagents and others to
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .